How I Met Stanley Yelnats: The Story Within
by Deyna Ian Bloom
Summary: After Deyna breaks her arm, Stanley helps her write down the true story of how they met. An in depth story of the couple's feelings and backgrounds.
1. Chapter 1: Camp Green Lake

How I Met Stanley Yelnats, extended

By Stanley Yelnats IV

So, you've read "How I met Stanley Yelnats", huh? I thought so. That's good. But did you know that there was more to the story? Neither did I. When Deyna showed me the story, I couldn't remember most of it. Later on, after our second set of twins was born, Deyna confessed that the rendition was slightly inaccurate. She had soaped it up a bit to make it more exciting. She meant to write the real story down, but after her left arm was broken, it wasn't possible. So here I am, writing her story for her. You'll notice the narratives switching between her and myself, because I want to be a part of this story as well. After all, I am the star...aren't I? Deyna, quit laughing!

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Stanley's POV

The bell rang as I got up from my desk in math class and walked into the hall. My face was still red from the humiliation of the weight ratio that the teacher had done with me and another kid. I stuffed my books inside my locker and slammed it shut. A paper flew from my locker and fluttered to the floor. I picked it up and looked to see what it was. It was a drawing I had done about half a year ago of a pretty girl from school. Her hair was reddish-brown and her grin was teasing. Every time I had seen her in the hallway, she smiled and waved. I had some hope that we would get together, but five months ago, she disappeared. No one really knew what happened to her, except that she went to be with her father. I stroked the pencil drawn face and smiled. The bell rang, announcing the end of school, so I folded the picture up and put it in my notebook, then I headed out the door.

Derrick Dunne, the school bully, walked up to me. While teasing me about my name, he grabbed my notebook and ran down the hall. I chased him to the boy's bathroom where I found my notebook in the toilet. I grimaced, and bent to retrieve it. The drawing of the pretty girl was at the bottom of the bowl, completely soaked with water. I sighed, and flushed it down the toilet. She was gone forever.

I left the bathroom and headed for home.

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Deyna's POV

My father had been gone for years. I was born when my parents were still in college, and when my father was kicked out of school for cheating, we went with him. I don't remember much about that time in my life. I remember my grandparents, and a doctor.

When I was two, I remember being told that Mommy wasn't here anymore. My grandparents told me that I started sucking my thumb, and had hugged my father's knee. But I never cried. It wasn't until I was older that I finally realized that she was gone forever. But I never cried. As I grew, I would stub my toe and get bitten by ants. But I never cried. I was a tomboy, and tomboys never cried about anything. I was a tough girl, and proud of it.

When I had just finished elementary school, my father left me. He had gotten a job in west Texas. Where, he would not say. He left me with my grandparents and kissed my forehead before he left. But I never cried. I stood on the front porch and watched him go. He wrote me once. He said that he would send for me when he could make the arrangements. My grandparents didn't believe him, but I had to have something to hope for. Each night, I straightened out the letter's creases and re-read the words.

During my first year of high school, a dusty old bus came to my school and picked me up. After they explained that my father was waiting for me, I ran down the steps shouting "I'm going to see my daddy!" I felt a little silly, but I was never going to see that school again. The bus ride turned out to be 9 hours long. I settled down in my seat and fell asleep.

A rough arm shook me awake. "Get up, girly." I woke up to see the guard standing over me. He held a red knit stretch hat in his hand, and a corset bra in the other. I twisted my medium length hair into a bun and stuffed the hat on. I turned red as I took the second object and waited until he had walked away to put it on. I was already skinny, but the bra flattened my chest out enough for it to look like a boy's chest. I looked around at the place we had stopped at. It was dusty and orange. I was glad I didn't have asthma.

I followed the guard into an office and sat down in a chair. A scary looking man turned around and took a puff of his cigarette. He blew the smoke in my face. I coughed. I was allergic to cigarette smoke.

He cackled a laugh and picked up his hat. "Come on, kid." I followed him to a cabin on the edge of the camp. It had a tree outside of it, and thick bed of grass around it. The man opened the front door and led me inside.

"Dad!" I grabbed the strong figure sitting on the couch and buried my head in his shirt collar. He hugged me back and touched my head, like he used to. I felt like crying, but I didn't. He did, however, and it spilled onto my shirt.

"My beautiful Deyna. You've grown!"

A red-haired woman stood next to the couch. She studied my face. "You look just like her." She shook her head as if she was shaking out an image. After Pendanski and the other man left, she confronted me. "Just because you are Pendanski's daughter, doesn't mean that you will get special treatment. You're my housekeeper now. You will obey my every command without question. Is that understood?" I nodded. "There's dishes in the kitchen that need to be washed. Get to it." I jumped up and started on my task.

Over the next few months, I was the Warden's servant. When I dug my first hole, she laughed at my blisters. But I never cried. When she made me help her make her special nail polish with rattlesnake venom, I got bitten by one. She had the anecdote and I recovered. But I never cried. I had no friends, and didn't even know what the other campers looked like. But I never cried.

I spent my evenings with Pendanski. We played cards in the cafeteria after all of the boys had gone to bed. He always lost on purpose so I would win. Then we would sit on the floor and I would fall asleep in his arms.

But good stories always end. After five months had passed, the Warden became short tempered with me. I hadn't the slightest idea why. I started dusting her make-up cabinet, as I usually did, when I accidentally knocked over her special nail polish. It tumbled to the floor and broke, spilling between the floorboards.

At that precise moment, the Warden and Pendanski walked in. The Warden cursed and told me to get out. I did, but stayed to listen.

"She has to get out, Pendanski."

"Why, Lou? She's done nothing wrong."

"I can't take it anymore. Seeing her face every single day. It's almost as if Alayna was back from the dead."

"Well, what do you propose we do?"

"You couldn't just send her back home?"

Pendanski's voice was firm. "No. Not again."

"Very well. She will disguise as a camper."

And that's just what we did.


	2. Chapter 2: Showers

Thank you so much for reading! I didn't think that anyone liked it! I can only write one chapter a week because I'm a part-time college student now. But I promise to make the chapters enough to last for a week.

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Deyna's POV

Two weeks had passed since the Warden had decided on my fate. I stood in the Warden's cabin waiting for the bus to come. I fingered my extra set of clothes and leaned against the windowsill.

The noisy diesel engine came up and stopped. I watched the young man step off and rub his chin. He looked familiar. I leaned closer to get a better look, but the Warden stopped me.

"Get away from the window, Deyna. I don't want those boys to see you." I obeyed, more out of instinct than obedience. I sat down on the couch, where I could see the boy better. Mr. Sir led him to get his orange suit and then Pendanski ushered him to D-tent. His face triggered something in my mind, but I couldn't make sense of it.

When all of the boys were busy eating dinner, Pendanski got me and took me to the bus. He pressed money into the guard and driver's hands.

"Bring her back in two weeks." They both nodded. Pendanski hesitated. "Make sure she gets her vitamins." I rolled my eyes. Please. The guard smiled.

"I'll treat her like she was my own." No doubt.

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'Goonies 'R Good Enough' played in my head. I tapped the seat in the old rickety bus.

"Stop that," the guard commanded. I did.

Two weeks had passed. I had spent the time with the bossy guard and his gossiping wife. Fun. But now I was back on the bus and ready to start my life as a camper at Camp Green Lake.

I breathed in and my breath caught. The corset bra was a nightmare, but I had to use it. I rearranged the stretch hat and leaned over the seat in front of me. Man, was it hot. The bus stopped.

"Come on, kid."

My jeans were two sizes too big. As I stepped off of the bus, I struggled to keep them on my hips. I held my bag with one hand, and my jeans with the other. The guard laughed as one side of my pants sagged and showed my boxer shorts. I sniffed (trying to be dignified) and held my head high as we walked into Mr. Sir's office.

Mr. Sir spit some sunflower seeds into his dirty jar. He growled at me. It was my fault that he didn't smoke anymore. The Warden knew that the smoke made me sick, so she made him stop. It saved my breath, and it saved her money.

"Well, if it isn't Little Miss Special Treatment!" He laughed as I sat down.

I smiled at him. "Still the same old courteous, Mr. Sir, huh?" He gave me a warning look before he handed the guard two sodas. He pulled out one more and I longed for the sweet taste of it. He noticed my look.

"This ain't the Girl Scouts, girly, and I ain't gonna treat you like it is." The guard left and Mr. Sir put his hat on. "Come on, girl. Or I should say, boy." He laughed again as I followed him outside.

I dressed in my ugly orange suit and was led to D-tent by Pendanski.

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Stanley's POV

Another day, another hole. I tossed my shovel into the big pile and went to D-tent to get my towel. Pendanski stopped me half-way to the tent.

"Stanley, there's a new camper with us. Her- I mean, his name is Deyna. I want you to be his mentor. Can you do that for me?" I shrugged one shoulder. "I'll take that as a yes. He's in the tent." Pendanski left, so I finished my trek to the tent.

A skinny boy was running his fingers over the crates in the room. He took a book out of his backpack and put it in his crate. I saw a badger on the cover, but didn't investigate further. Don't mess with someone's lifeline. His face looked familiar, but I dismissed the thought. I opened the tent flap and walked in.

"A book person, huh?" I said, hoping to break the ice. He swung around and looked like murder.

"What's it to you?" I shrugged my shoulder again. "Are you Stanley?"

"My name's Caveman."

He crossed his arms. "Good, then that means that I don't have a mentor." He walked past me and shoved me with his shoulder. I slowly followed.

"Come on, dude, it's time for showers." I threw my towel over my shoulder and looked at his face. He went pale.

"Showers? Umm, I don't really feel like taking a shower."

I laughed. "I felt like that once. Trust me, you need to take a shower."

He shuffled some dirt with his feet. "I'll be back." He took off running towards the Warden's cabin.

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Deyna's POV

After my conversation with "Caveman", I realized how dangerous it would be if I showered in the regular showers. I crept up to the Warden's cabin and slowly sneaked into her front room on all fours. She was watching the TV.

"Deyna, rinse out the tub when you're done."

I got up. "Yes, Warden." Problem solved.

I finished a few minutes later and went back to the wreck room. D-tent was sitting outside of the building.

X-Ray caught my attention. "Hey, dude, what were you doin' at the Warden's place?" Drat, they noticed.

"What's it to you?" I didn't want to be mean, but I had to be tough.

X-Ray stood up and his bouncers, Armpit and Squid, got up beside him. "That's some mouth you have. You're pretty tough for a skinny kid." I almost laughed, but kept my face tight.

ZigZag put his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, Hercules. Let's go watch some TV."

I felt happy as they took me inside to hang with them. I had been accepted.

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Yeah! And Zig put his arm around her too! I want to be her! Lol


	3. Chapter 3: Deyna's a girl?

You know, I was reading my first Holes story (the one I'm taking this one from) and then I read Holes and I realized something: Magnet stole the sunflower seeds after they dug the big hole... Oops... Must...change...stupid...mistake...

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Stanley's POV

Deyna's tray clinked as he set it down on D-tent's table directly across from X-Ray. We all looked at him. The guys had just agreed that he was the strangest looking boy we'd ever seen. His eyes were too soft and his guard was up too high.

Armpit cleared his throat. "So, Hercules...what are you in here for?" Deyna shrugged.

Squid laughed. "Come on, Hercules! You gotta have done something to get here."

Zig-Zag smiled. "Yeah, it ain't like summer camp."

"I stole a puppy," Magnet said proudly.

"I got in a fight," Armpit said. Deyna ate his food and didn't answer any of them.

X-Ray got impatient. "Hey, Hercules. You gonna' answer, or just leave us hanging?"

Deyna swallowed. "I killed my mother." Squid and Zero, who were sitting next to Deyna, quickly moved their trays away from him.

X-Ray opened his mouth to respond, but decided against it. Everyone ate their meals fast so they wouldn't have to sit near Deyna. I stayed.

Deyna looked up at me. "What are you lookin' at?"

I stared at him until he looked down. "Is that really why you're here?"

He picked up his slice of bread and slopped up some of the...slop. "They wanted an answer, so I gave it to them."

I blinked a few times. "So you didn't kill your mother?" He didn't answer. "You know, Pendanski always says-"

"Just because you've done some bad things, doesn't make you a bad kid," he said, as if he'd heard it dozens of times.

"How'd you know that?"

He looked up at me and then picked up his tray. "My dad used to... I, uh, heard it before. See ya later." And quickly, he ran out of the cafeteria.

_'There's something weird and familiar about that kid, and I'm gonna' find out what it is,'_ I thought. And that's just what I did.

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The sky was dark and the air was a little bit cooler as I finished my shower and walked back to the tent. I knew that most of the campers were either sleeping, or playing cards by now. D-tent was sleeping. I was almost to the canvas door when I saw something stirring in the tent. It was Deyna. He got up from the bed and fumbled with his hat. He checked all of the beds and then took the hat off to shake the dirt off of it. Shoulder length auburn hair tumbled down his head. Wait a minute...boys don't have hair like that. Deyna is a girl! I put a hand over my mouth and she saw me move. Quickly, I continued walking, as if I hadn't seen anything. I crouched next to C-tent and waited for her to come out. She ran as fast and silently as she could over to the Warden's cabin. What was going on?

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I waited for Deyna to come back to the tent the next morning. When he- I mean she- did, she walked past me. I stared at her with no emotion. She looked down and wouldn't meet my eyes. That's right, Deyna. I know. She quickly left so I got up.

Mr. Sir showed us where to dig after our skimpy breakfast and we all got to it. I watched Deyna dig. She already knew how and was digging as fast as me. I could tell that she was holding back though. She could've been as fast as the other guys, but she was being slow on purpose. I quit thinking and dug.

At lunch, I walked over to her hole and sat on the edge to give her some shade.

"Hey."

She took a drink from her canteen, screwed the lid on and then looked up at me.

"What?"

"Nothin', I was just giving you some shade. I know how it is to dig your first hole." She sat down in her hole. "It _is_ your first hole, isn't it?"

She looked at the other guys, who were listening to the conversation, then back at me.

"Of course it is! Now get away from my hole, turd!" She pushed my leg, so I got up.

"This isn't over," I whispered as I walked around the edge of her hole to get back to mine. She heard me and brought her shovel up in front of me. I tripped. She got close to me and whispered into my ear.

"Shut your trap, Caveman. I know that you got some dirt on me. I'm not quite sure what it is, but if you want to talk to me about it, wait until they're gone. Got it?" I nodded. "Now get lost." I did.

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Deyna's POV

Caveman waited until he finished his hole to talk to me. He came back over to my hole and sat on the edge. I did a few finishing touches and threw my shovel over the edge of my finished hole.

"Okay, spill it," I said as I sat on the other side of the hole.

"You know, a guy sees a lot when he can't sleep at night."

Oh barnacle heads! He knows!

"Look, if you tell anyone, _anyone_, that I'm a girl, I'll hit you so hard, Stanley Yelnats the First will feel it!" I shouted.

"Wait, how did you know that there was more than one Stanley Yelnats?"

Oops.

"Lucky guess." He blinked at me a few times. "I'm outta here."

I grabbed my shovel and took off running. I was in deep bananas.


	4. Chapter 4: Advice

Deyna's POV

By the time I was done with my shower, everyone was asleep. Well, almost everyone. I sat down on the porch of the wreck room and pulled my wet hair into a pony tail. Pendanski walked up.

"Hey sweetheart."

"Hey dad."

"You want to play some cards?" He held out my Lord of the Rings deck of cards.

"No thanks, dad. I'm gonna turn in." I got up and walked back to D-tent, pulling on my stretch hat as I went.

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The next day, Stanley found me after dinner.

"Hey." He sat across from me in the wreck room. The room was empty.

"Where's everyone else?"

He scratched his head. "Oh, Pendanski has them in one of his stupid counselor sessions."

I leaned back on the couch. "Why didn't you go?"

"I feigned sick."

I crossed my arms. "Why?"

"Because, I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh." Silence.

He chewed on his lip a few times. "You may think that I'm crazy, but have we ever met before? I mean, before you came here?"

You read my mind.

I got up. "Wait here." I ran to D-tent and got my book out of my locker. I pulled out the page marker and ran back to the wreck room with it. I sat back down and opened the page.

"What's that?" Stanley got up and sat down next to me.

"It's a page from last year's yearbook. We went to the same school." I pointed to his picture. "See, there you are." He smiled and touched it.

"Where are you?"

I touched my picture, a few lines above his.

"Deyna Pendanski," he read. "Wait... Pendanski's your dad?" I nodded. "And you left school five months ago?" I nodded again. "Then you must be the girl that I...well..." He blushed. "I mean, I saw you around a few times."

"I saw you too." I slammed the book open. "And I'd better not see you too much here. The other guys might think that we're both a little..." I shook my hand back and forth to indicate "fatalist".

He nodded. "If anyone asks, we're just really good pals that knew each other in school."

I nodded. Like anyone was gonna buy that! We both looked at each other like we were gonna kiss at any second. I got up.

"You know somethin', Stanley? You're a pretty okay guy."

He grinned and got up too. "Thanks. And you're a pretty okay guy too."

Before he could start walking, I playfully punched him in the stomach and took off running towards D-Tent.

----

The next day, I set my tray down on D-Tent's table and slumped down into the seat. Everyone stopped eating to greet me, as if we hadn't just been standing in the dinner line together.

"So," Zig said as he ate his food. "How's that advice thingy goin' for you, Hercules?"

"It's goin' pretty good. I'm kinda stuck on one problem though."

Stanley looked up from his food. "Tell us what it is. Maybe we can help."

I dug into my food and started telling them.

"Okay, there's this guy."

"Obviously," Squid said with a laugh.

I swung at him and continued. "Anyways, he's in love with his friend back home. He doesn't know how to tell her of his feelings."

"Why?" Zero asked.

"Well, he's never fallen for one of his friends before, partly because up till now, they've all been guys." I stared off into space as I thought about the situation. "He loves her so much, but because she's so close to him, he doesn't want to hurt her. If he takes the chance on the relationship and it doesn't work out, they'll lose their friendship. He doesn't want that, but he wants to be with her more."

Armpit snapped in my face to bring me out of my trance. "What's this kid's name?" Funny you should ask.

"Dude, patient confidentiality. Can't tell you." Darn right, I can't tell you. It just so happens to be me.

Stanley picked at his food while X-Ray answered my question.

"Maybe you should tell this person to do something unexpected to show their friend how they feel. You know, flowers."

Magnet smiled. "Candy."

ZigZag was next. "Or a kiss. That always does the trick."

I chewed on my bread. "Maybe for you, but this guy isn't exactly brave enough to do something like that. He's afraid that she'll be totally weirded out if he does something like that."

Stanley spoke up. "He's only got one life to live. If he's supposed to live it with his friend, then he's gotta start some time."

I nodded. "Thanks guys, that helps a lot. I mean, it's gonna help my patient."

----

The end! Just kidding! I've had this chapter for like, a month and I haven't added anything to it, so I'm gonna start on the next chapter.


	5. Chapter 5: Feelings come out

The next day, Stanley and I dug slowly so we'd be alone longer. He purposefully started digging next to me so we could carry on a conversation while we dug.

"Favourite movie?" Stanley asked as a clump of dirt came flying from his hole.

"Reign of Fire," I answered as I measured my hole with my shovel. It was big enough. I kept on digging.

Stanley laughed. "I love that movie."

I smiled. "Christian Bale is a hottie." Stanley didn't say anything for a few minutes after that.

"So, uh, you would go out with him if he asked you?"

I dumped the dirt in my shovel behind me. "I didn't say that."

He started digging faster. "But I bet he's hotter than your boyfriend back home, right?"

I stopped. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Silence.

"What about you?" I started digging again.

Stanley's shovel clinked. "What about me?"

"Don't you have a girlfriend?"

I heard Stanley unscrew his canteen and take a drink. "Oh, come on. You know the girls at our school. None of them give me the time of day."

I scraped the side of my hole with my shovel. "I did."

Stanley set his canteen down and didn't answer for a few minutes. "I know."

"Deyna! What are you still doing out here?" I rolled my eyes as Pendanski walked up to us. "You should've been done with your hole an hour ago."

"It's just taken us longer today, Dad."

"Measure your holes, you two." Stanley and I measured our holes. They were both too big. Oops. "Alright Stanley, go take a shower. I'll deal with you later." We both got out of our holes and started walking. "Deyna, you stay here." Oh brother.

I rolled my eyes. "What, Dad?"

He crossed his arms. "Well, you're certainly going to be the talk of the camp."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If you keep this up, Deyna, the whole camp will be talking about you and Stanley. And I don't mean in a good way." I rolled my eyes again. "You can't draw that kind of attention to yourself. They might start rough housing you and that might threaten your hat. And if that happens, you'll have to go home."

"Good," I mumbled.

Pendanski heard it. "What?"

"I said 'Good'. Ever since I came here as a camper, you never have time for me. You're always busy doing something."

Pendanski shook his finger at me, like I was a cat. "What is this attitude, Deyna? My little girl does not have an attitude."

I threw my shovel down in frustration. "I'm not a little girl, Dad. I'm a teenager now. And I need you to be there for me. It's important...for both of us." I shook my head at him after he didn't answer and walked away.

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Stanley's POV

Deyna stopped talking to me after that. Pendanski told me to stay away from her, and I figured that something was up. Did he know my secret? I had started falling for Deyna ever since she got here. I love her hair, her fingers, her toes, her arms, her legs, her teeth, her lips, her eyes, the way she smiles when she looks at me, the way she looks when she sleeps. This is crazy. She would never fall for a guy like me.

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Deyna's POV

Pendanski and I didn't speak for a week. It was the longest week of my life to say the least. I stopped talking to Stanley just to please Pendanski, but that made me even more miserable. Crap. Stanley tried to make amends though, as if I were mad at him. He would save me part of his dinner since I never got enough to eat and leave it for me when he left with the other guys. It was then that I realized that I had fallen for him a long time ago, way before Camp Green Lake. I didn't care that he was overweight. I thought that he was a nice guy, and cute to boot. I was crazy to think that he liked me.

However, an unexpected twist happened in my story at the end of that week.

Pendanski approached me after I had taken my shower at the Warden's cabin.

"Deyna, I just wanted to say..." He stopped because the kids washing the Warden's car were staring.

I gave them a look. "What are you lookin' at?" They left.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like a little girl. You need me right now because you don't have your mother."

"It's okay, Dad. I shouldn't have been so mean to you." We hugged. "Thanks, Dad."

"I'm sorry that you have to stay away from Stanley. You two could still be friends, you know."

I shook my head. "No, it's better this way. I only have to endure him for a year and four months."

But I wasn't going to be there for that long.

Four days later, I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned for hours. I missed Stanley. I opened my eyes and saw him staring at me. I checked the other beds. Everyone was asleep. I got up and walked to his bed.

"Stanley, I need to talk to you," I whispered. He sat up, so I sat next to him. "I'm sorry for ignoring you. Dad thought that if we kept on hanging out, everyone would think that we like each other, and everyone thinks that I'm a guy, so that would be just a little weird."

Stanley didn't say anything for a minute. "Why would they think that we like each other?" I didn't answer. When our eyes met, Stanley knew why. He grinned. "Your patient?"

I grinned back. "Yeah, that was me."

"So...you really like me?" I nodded. "Really really?"

"Yes, Stanley."

"You're sure?"

"Pretty darn."

He turned to face me. "Okay, just once more-" I put my fingers over his mouth.

"Stanley, shut up." I laughed and took my fingers off. Stanley's gaze locked mine and slowly, we inched towards each other until our lips met. I suspected that Stanley had never been kissed before, but that didn't stop him from taking the kiss from sweet to passionate. My hands moved up his arms and came up to grasp his hair. I felt his hands on my head and back, pulling me to him. I didn't care if we got caught. This kiss was worth it. I don't know how it happened, but somewhere in the middle of it all, Stanley accidentally slid off the bed and took me with him. The noise was too loud and woke everyone in the tent up.

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Uh oh! Busted!


	6. Chapter 6: The truth

Come on, people! If you like my story R/R!

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As I said, the noise woke everyone in the tent up. I heard a match flare up and then I saw X-Ray's face next to one of our lanterns. They all got closer to see Stanley and me on the floor, each with our hands tangled in the other's hair and me straddling his hips.

ZigZag laughed. "Well what do you know. Stanley and Deyna are gay!" Everyone laughed as we got up.

"We're not gay!" I shouted defensively.

"Then how do you explain this, Deyna?" X-Ray said in his 'I'm the boss and you've got some splainin' to do' tone of voice.

"I'll tell you how I explain this." I ripped off my hat and let my hair fall. A gasp circled the room.

Squid's toothpick fell out of his mouth. "You're a chick?"

Magnet poked his head out from behind the tall guys. "What'd you come here for? To watch us when we're in the shower?"

I gave him a look. "Very funny, Magnet. I came here to be with my dad, Pendanski."

"She went to school with me," Stanley said from behind me.

Zig wasn't finished yet. "Oh, she went to 'school' with you, eh, Stanley?"

"Hey, leave them alone," X-Ray said. Everyone shut up. "Deyna, I speak for everyone when I say, we're gonna keep this a secret. No one's gonna find out, so you can stay here with your dad."

I shook my head. "No. It's too risky. I have to go back home." I looked behind them and noticed Pendanski watching. It was over.

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The next morning, Mr. Sir announced to all of the boys that I had been released because of false charges and I was going home that afternoon. We went to dig our holes while Pendanski waited for the bus to come and get me.

Losing my mother hadn't been enough, stubbing my toes and getting bitten by ants hadn't been enough, Pendanski leaving hadn't been enough, getting bitten by a snake hadn't been enough, having no friends hadn't been enough. But leaving Stanley and Pendanski was enough. As soon as I started digging, I let go of 15 years of emotions and cried. I cried my soul out. I cried silently for three hours, until I couldn't cry anymore. D-Tent was silent, but I knew that they could tell that I was crying. Stanley sat next to me at lunch. He didn't say anything for a while as we ate our lunch. When he did speak, he jumped down into my hole, which was admittedly deeper than everyone else's (Except Zero's).

"Deyna, it's gonna be okay." I tried to cry again, but nothing came out. He put his arms around me in the shelter of my hole and let me calm down.

"I don't wanna go away," I whispered. "I don't want you to go away."

"I'm not going anywhere, Deyna," he whispered into my hair.

"I know." I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Will you wait for me?"

I lifted my head. "What?"

He ran his fingers over my hat. "I'll be out of here next year. Will you wait?"

Tears came out of my eyes, even though I had none before. "Yes, Stanley. I'll wait forever for you." He leaned in for a short kiss, then went back to his hole.

The bus came after I was finished with my hole. I took my last shower in the Warden's cabin and got on the bus. The engine roared as we took off. I took my hat off and shook my hair out. I pulled two rubber bands out of my bag and quickly braided it into two pigtails. I quickly went to sleep and woke up three hours later. My side hurt from the corset, so I took it off. Ah. Freedom. I breathed deep, deeper than I had breathed in a month.

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Six hours later, the bus dropped me off at a house I knew well: my Grandparents house. My Grandparents are what some people would consider wealthy, so it was interesting to see the ratty old bus on rich street. I walked up the stairs and rang the doorbell. Granddad answered.

"Emily! Deyna's home!"

Grandma flew out of the parlor and smothered me in a hug.

"Hey, Grandma."

"Ooh! What did they do to you at that dusty old camp? You look awful! Go upstairs and take a shower!"

I ran up to my room, which looked the same. I grabbed a pair of jeans and an orange shirt and took a shower. I came back down to eat dinner. The servants served a meal of roast beef with baked potato. I almost gagged on it because I was so used to the food at Camp Green Lake. I pretended that it was hot, and downed my goblet of water in one gulp.

"Deyna, why are you wearing orange? That's a disgusting colour on you."

"Orange is my favourite colour." It is now anyways. I had gotten used to the food, so I was politely stuffing my face with it.

"Deyna! Stop that at once! Good heavens! You are not in a barn! What has that camp done to your manners?"

I rolled my eyes inside my head. "Sorry, Grandma."

"By the way, school starts next week."

I moaned. "Aww! School? Now?"

"Yes, now. You got the whole summer off. I'm glad you came back in time for school. I was about to come get you myself."

"But I had to dig a hole every single day, Grandma! I'm really tired!"

"Deyna, that is not my problem. You wanted to go to that camp for your summer vacation. Now you have to go back to school."

I got up and threw my napkin on my plate. "I didn't go there for summer vacation, Grandma. I was going to stay there forever." I ran out of the room and up the stairs. When I reached my room, I locked my door behind me and threw myself on my bed. A few minutes later, I fell asleep.

-----

Aww! Poor Deyna!


	7. Chapter 7: Last Chapter

Wow, I went through the rest of the entire story with no reviews. Ho hum. My readers must've died or something...

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_One month later_

I stuffed my gym uniform into my locker after gym class and sat down on the bench in the middle of the room. I wiped my face off with my towel and sighed. The last month had been so horrible. My Grandparents had been nicer to me, but I hadn't heard a thing about Stanley or Pendanski. It was driving me mad. I got up to leave, when I heard a few girls talking on the other side of the lockers.

"Hey, did you hear about that fat kid that lived down the street...uh, what's his name?"

"Yelnuts, I think."

"Stanley," I whispered to myself.

"Yeah, him. He's really rich now. His dad discovered some foot odor spray thing and got him out of prison."

"I heard that he sent all of the people who ran the prison to jail."

"Well, if he's rich now, maybe I'll go out with him."

I turned the corner of the lockers and interrupted. "Where did you hear that?"

They all looked up at me. "What?"

I grunted in frustration. "What you've been talking about! Where did you hear it!"

"It was in the paper this morning! Don't have a cow!"

"Thanks!" I ran out of the locker room to go buy a paper.

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Stanley's POV

Our new limo pulled up at our new private school. Zero tugged on the ringlets in his hair nervously.

"There it is. Our new school." I smiled as I looked it over. As the limo driver opened my door and I got out, I started searching the school grounds for Deyna. Give it up, man. She's not at this school. I led Zero up the stairs and inside to the office.

I caught the secretary's attention. "Excuse me."

She turned. "Hello, what can I do for you?"

I smiled. "Hi, I'm Stanley and this is my friend, Hector. We're new here."

"Okay, why don't you talk to my assistant. She's on the other side of that partition over there."

I turned in the direction that she pointed to and walked up to it. I knocked on the partition, but didn't go to the other side. A hand grabbed the side of the partition and someone I already knew rolled out on her chair.

"Deyna?" I said in disbelief.

She smiled at me. "Hey, Caveman."

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Needless to say, after that, Deyna and I fell all over each other. Zero says he felt like chucking. Ha ha. Anyways, Deyna and I were pretty much inseparable after that. She forgave me for sending her dad to jail, and we used to visit him every week. We also used to visit the Warden, who is Deyna's - Oops! I almost gave away something! Have you read "How I Met Stanley Yelnats 2: Custody" yet? No? Well, you'd better get to it, man! So this is Stanley Yelnats signing out for his wife, Deyna Yelnats, who is at the moment swinging her cast at me. No Deyna! I promise I wrote down everything that you told me! I didn't add anything, I swear!

The End!


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